Ifs and Whens

^{By: Carole Lynne Haines} 

¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my help, 
My soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence. 
18 If I should say, “My foot has slipped,” 
Your faithfulness, Lord, will support me. 
19 When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, 
Your comfort delights my soul. 
{Psalm 94:17-19 NASB} 

God’s timing is so often not ours. In fact, I cannot think of a single time in my life where God’s timing coincided with mine. I usually want to rush ahead and just get where I’m going. Like a dog on a leash who has not learned to walk pace with its master, I strain at the pull that is holding me back. It’s taken a long time to trust His time clock. Yet over the years I have learned that God’s timing is not simply perfect, it is a safety net. Often God is protecting us from some unforeseen consequence we cannot see. 
In today’s verses we see confessions of God’s faithful care for His people.  
 The word ‘If’ is used twice in this portion of Scripture.  
“If the Lord had not been my help,” and  
“If I should say. ‘My foot has slipped.’” 

Have you ever lived in a time of regret, an ‘if-only’ season of life? 
“I never saw that coming, if only I could have known ahead of time.” 
Yet God never wants us to stay in those seasons of regret, fear, and doubt.  
He wants us to move onto focusing on Him, His faithfulness and goodness. 
If it were not for God, I would have died from grief and regret, I would have been as the psalmist and dwelt in the abode of silence. I actually asked God to take me home, to end the suffering I was in. Have you ever felt like that?  God wants us to focus on the fact that He is our support, our stronghold, our place of safety from regret. We have God’s promise in Scripture:  
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  
{Romans 8:28} 
Our call in this verse is to love God and trust His purpose. His promise is to do what it takes in our lives to work things for our good and His glory. When the winds of regret blow in, triggering the if-only’s and fears, let’s remember the ‘WHEN’ of Psalm 94. 
“When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, 
Your comfort delights my soul.” {vs. 19} 
Give God your ifs and whens. Only He can bring good out of these things in our lives. Only God knows when the right time is to let you see His fruit in bringing things all together. This ministry was born out of the season I spoke of earlier when I asked God to just bring me home. Instead, He left me here to share with you about His faithfulness, grace, and love.
Rest in Him, Dear Believer. Let His comfort delight your soul. Simply rest in Him.